Creamy and delicious Instant Pot Mac & Cheese with Broccoli easily made in under 10 minutes for the perfect comfort food meal your whole family will love!

Creamy and delicious Instant Pot Mac & Cheese with Broccoli easily made in under 10 minutes for the perfect comfort food meal your whole family will love!

Macaroni and cheese.  Ah classic comfort food at its finest and definitely one of my favorite meals growing up as a kid!  It doesn’t get much better than cheesy, delicious, homemade macaroni and cheese and making this in the Instant Pot is a total GAME CHANGER.

You guys this recipe is spot on and couldn’t be any easier to make, that’s why I love cooking with my Instant Pot.  Just dump all the ingredients in and you get perfectly cooked, delicious food every single time.  No need to drain water or use multiple dishes either, just one pot with little clean-up!  I don’t know about you, but these past few months have been pretty stressful during quarantine and with being home ALL the time, sometimes your family just needs a little comfort food.  This mac and cheese definitely hits the spot and well I added in some fresh broccoli because, you know, BALANCE.

Creamy and delicious Instant Pot Mac & Cheese with Broccoli easily made in under 10 minutes for the perfect comfort food meal your whole family will love!

We really try to eat healthy 90% of the time and let me tell you that making mac and cheese at home with fresh, REAL ingredients is so much better than the boxed stuff!  Not only is it better for you, but the taste is incredible!  Moderation is key and I think everyone needs a bowl of this cheesy deliciousness every now and then.

Ingredients You’ll Need

  • Whole wheat elbow pasta – Feel free to use any type of pasta you’d like for this, the possibilities are endless!
  • Grass fed butter – Could you leave this out?  Sure you probably could, but in my opinion, if you want good macaroni and cheese you NEED the butter, it’s just not the same without it.  If you really don’t want to use butter you could always add a little olive oil!
  • QUALITY cheddar cheese – Yes make sure to find a block of good sharp cheddar as the cheese is the star of this meal!  I like to freshly grate the cheese myself over buying the pre-shredded stuff because it just melts so much better and has such a delicious rich flavor.
  • Ground mustard – This adds a nice subtle flavor, but if you don’t have ground mustard on hand, regular mustard or even dijon would work just fine.
  • Milk – I like to use 2% milk for this recipe, but you could use whole milk or even skim if you want the lower fat content!
  • Broccoli – Fresh is always best in my opinion, but frozen broccoli would work too!
Creamy and delicious Instant Pot Mac & Cheese with Broccoli easily made in under 10 minutes for the perfect comfort food meal your whole family will love!

How to Make Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

  • Place pasta, water, butter, salt and ground mustard (in that order) into your Instant Pot.
  • Lock the lid, making sure the valve is set to “sealing” and cook on manual high pressure for 4 minutes.
  • Quick-release when finished, being really careful not to let the steam hit your face, and stir in the milk, cheese and broccoli.  Stir until the cheese is completely melted then place the lid back on for about 5 to 6 minutes, just so that the sauce can thicken and the broccoli can get nice and tender!

If you add the broccoli in with the noodles, the broccoli just becomes complete mush, but adding in fresh broccoli to a super hot Instant Pot makes it perfectly tender in just a few minutes.  If you prefer the taste of roasted broccoli, you could of course mix in some of that, it’s totally up to you!  Feel free to add in additional seasonings as well or even more veggies if you prefer!

Creamy and delicious Instant Pot Mac & Cheese with Broccoli easily made in under 10 minutes for the perfect comfort food meal your whole family will love!

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This recipe makes a TON too which is great because the leftovers taste even better!  And because this macaroni and cheese only takes about 10 minutes from start to finish, you really have no excuse to use the boxed stuff when this takes about the same amount of time!

Hope you all enjoy this creamy and delicious Instant Pot mac and cheese with broccoli and if you do decide to make this or any other Eat Yourself Skinny recipe, please make sure to tag me on Instagram so I can see all the yummy things you’re eating!

4.23 from 18 votes

Instant Pot Mac & Cheese with Broccoli

Creamy and delicious Instant Pot Mac & Cheese with Broccoli easily made in under 10 minutes for the perfect comfort food meal your whole family will love!
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients 

  • 1 lb. uncooked whole wheat elbow pasta
  • 4 cups water
  • 2 Tbsp grass fed butter
  • 1/2 tsp ground mustard
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 2 cups fresh or frozen broccoli, cut into small florets
  • 1 cup milk, I used 2% for this recipe
  • 3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
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Instructions 

  • Place pasta, water, butter, salt, and ground mustard into the bowl of the Instant Pot and stir to combine. Secure the lid and make sure that the valve is set to “sealing.”
  • Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes using the manual function. Quick-release when finished, being really careful not to let the steam hit your face.
  • Stir in the milk then add cheese and broccoli, stirring until the cheese is melted. Place the lid back on the Instant Pot and let the macaroni sit for 5 to 6 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and the broccoli is tender.
  • Season with pepper and any additional seasonings as needed. Serve and enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 11/3 cups | Calories: 472kcal | Carbohydrates: 45.7g | Protein: 23.3g | Fat: 24.3g | Saturated Fat: 14.8g | Sodium: 800.8mg | Fiber: 6.8g | Sugar: 4.9g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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As a self-proclaimed foodie and fitness enthusiast, I have a passion for cooking and a huge desire to show that living a healthy lifestyle can actually be easy and fun!  Feel free to use the meal guide above to find your new favorite meal ideas or the dietary guides to the right to narrow things down even more!

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27 Comments

  1. Sarita says:

    5 stars
    OH MY!!! Listen- whew! THIS WAS AHHHMAZING!
    Who knew homemade Mac and cheese in the INSTAPOT was SO EASY AND DELICIOUS! Sista let me tell you! I made this 20 mins ago and everyone is in a food coma and the dishes are DONE!
    I am stunned!!!! Absolutely fantastic! The recipe was easy- I used banza noodles cause we got a celiac in the fam, Kelly Gold butter, vegetable broth2 cups and 2 cups water, set it for custom for 4 minutes, when the timer said open me up, I surely did! I had to taste one of the perfectly cooked noodles for confirmation of what my eyes were seeing and my taste buds were equally satisfied! I tried telling my family it was disgusting and they prolly didn’t want none of it-they easily saw and smelled through my greedy ruse! I couldn’t wait to eat this! Super creamy and super easy-not in my wildest dreams did I ever think this was an option! BLOWN AWAY! THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR THIS ONE POT WONDER!!!!!

  2. Jane says:

    2 stars
    I’ve made mac and cheese in the instant pot for a long time now and the one thing you never do is put in raw broccoli in a meal that’s already been cooked. I still follow the instructions on this recipe and my broccoli even after 3 minutes with the lid shut was still raw. Highly recommend you steaming your broccoli ahead of time if using raw fresh broccoli or use steamed broccoli in a bag. Also when you’re cooking elbow macaroni made out of whole wheat you need to cook 6 to 7 minutes unless you want al dente or hard noodles. Last thing I would say is instead of using water use chicken broth.

    1. Casper says:

      Agreed. Mine was still not soft after 15 mins – definitely will steam beforehand. Also may try mixing different cheeses. Otherwise, super easy!

    2. Greg A Thow says:

      4 stars
      You are absolutely right.. the recipe needs to be modified.. I did it twice, once with raw and once with steamed and the cooked broccoli crushed it.. its still a great recipe but you should add chicken add ins or other proteins as options.. but ultimately if you cook the broccoli it really works.

      1. Greg A Thow says:

        3 stars
        just made it a third time and it comes out so watery.. disappointing for sure. I know there is a good recipe here.. but as written it just doesnt show like the photos above unfortunately.

        1. B says:

          3 stars
          I followed the recipe exactly as written including amount. Came out super watery, lacking in flavour (because of the amount of water still left after cooking,I am sure ), pasta was undercooked and broccoli was still raw. I do feel this is a good recipe, just not sure where I went wrong (I am fairly new to the instant pot)??! I like the idea of adding broth instead of water, land some of the other ideas. Has anyone tried this with different quantities and/or time?

  3. judy moore says:

    5 stars
    Absolutely delicious & creamy. I used half & half instead of milk, cooked my broccoli in the microwave & folded it in after the cheese melted. I added a large cubed boneless skinless chicken breast that I had browned in the skillet. Perfect one pan meal & we have leftovers!

  4. Susan McKinlay says:

    3 stars
    I think I will steam the broccoli next time.

  5. Eva says:

    5 stars
    Excellent flavor and texture! And so easy to make. This will be in our regular rotation!

  6. Georgia says:

    3 stars
    ended up with overcooked noodles and undercooked broccoli. recipe could use some tweaking, although the flavour was good.

    1. Elizabeth A. Wehlage says:

      3 stars
      incredibly great idea but my pasta came out a bit too soft too. Maybe some tweaking?!!!! I love the time saving of the instapot!!!

  7. Brenda Persian says:

    5 stars
    Broccoli and Mac and Cheese is the best! My two favorites together! I highly recommend this! 🥰

  8. Bonnie says:

    5 stars
    This dish is so tasty! I prepared it twice but the second time I added more broccoli because I love vegetables and it was more nutritious. What’s more, I have lots of broccoli to use as I am growing them in my yard. I got a package from my friend with broccoli seeds from https://gardenseedsmarket.com/broccoli-set-of-seeds-of-5-varieties.html and I’ve got about 6 of them to use now. Waiting for more recipes like that!